After another bitter defeat, 1. FC Köln is threatened with being eliminated from the group stage of the Conference League.
After a poor performance at the Serbian club Partizan Belgrade, the team coached by Steffen Baumgart deservedly lost 0:2 (0:1) and is under great pressure with two remaining group games.
Fousseni Diabaté (15th) after a mistake by Timo Hübers and Ricardo Gomes (52nd) scored for Belgrade, who had won 1-0 in Cologne last week.
But unlike the first duel, the Effzeh was largely harmless this time and disappointed playfully, the defeat could have been clearer.
Hübers fails with serious consequences
After a decent start and a first chance through Ellyes Skhiri (5th), Hübers made a serious mistake deep in his own half on the touchline. His failed clarification attempt landed at Diabaté’s feet, who scored clear in front of FC keeper Marvin Schwäbe.
Cologne didn’t find their way into the game after that – and didn’t pick up momentum even after a long break. Israeli referee Roy Reinshreiber sent the teams off the field in the 31st minute because fans had set off massive amounts of pyrotechnics and visibility was severely impaired.
The Cologne team still had great problems creating any significant chances – and almost conceded the second goal just before the break. Queensy Menig (45 + 10) only hit the crossbar of the FC goal.
1. FC Cologne too harmless
Things didn’t get any better after the break from the Bundesliga side’s point of view: Gomes beat three Cologne players in the second goal from Belgrade.
There was still a lack of speed, precision and ideas to pose problems for the Serbian runner-up. Although Effzeh had a lot of possession, he didn’t create any chances.